Chapter 224

224 Date Night: Inside Job

Tidas could feel the rage rolling off of his wife in waves. He couldn’t believe someone had tried to poison Zazzy, and needed to know why. ‘Were they after Zazzy, or were they trying to hurt Skye through her? Is Zazzy a threat to someone? Who? ...I need to get someone out here to switch out her food, and watch her while we’re gone..’

“Regis! Front and center!” Tidas called out to the supposedly empty trees.

Within moments, a man who looked to be just a few years older than Tidas appeared from amongst the trees. Skye thought he might’ve been the one standing in the field with Zazzy when they’d first arrived, but wasn’t sure. The person had walked away as soon as Zazzy had taken off towards them. She’d assumed that Tidas had ordered him to leave once they showed, not go hide in the trees.

Skye didn’t actually know who he was, so she looked ready to kill. Tidas could feel her murderous intent. He understood her suspicion, but was still surprised that she was being so openly hostile to one of his men. Hoping it was a misunderstanding, Tidas put his hand out and said; “He’s one of my guards, it’s ok.”

Not giving him a moment, Skye walked up to the tall and dark man after he’d jumped down, and rapid-fired questions at him.

“Have ye been following us this whole time?”

“Aye, Princess.”

“Did ye make it apparent that ye were following us?”

“No, Princess.”

.....

“Did ye see anyone else followin’ us?”

“Not out here, but a woman followed you two for a few blocks in town earlier.”

“Did ye see her face?”

“No, Princess. She was cloaked.”

“And ye didn’t see anyone or hear anythin’ strange while out here?”

The soldier clammed up a bit, making Skye’s ire flare; “Speak now or I swear I will-”

“Skye! I understand you’re upset, but do not Ever threaten one of our men. Their loyalty has been proven; that includes Regis here,” Tidas patted the man on the shoulder after walking over while talking.

Regis kept his rigid stance as he spoke; “I, umm.. Heard strange noises, but they weren’t from a threat..”

Skye’s face turned red as she apologized for her behavior, and lack of volume control in the bedroom. Even though she really did try to contain herself this time.

Tidas was right to call her out for her crap. Skye was unfairly taking her anger out on a man who was simply doing his job.. She was acting like Karena, and suddenly felt disgusted with herself. She never reacted this way, at least not until thoroughly provoked. ‘Why was I so ridiculously quick to anger?’

After the princess apologized to him profusely, Regis loosened up a bit. He was a thinner, tall man whom was normally serious in nature to begin with. Even Tidas had rarely seem any kind of emotion on his face. The look of utter fear in his eyes at Skye’s rage didn’t make sense to him until he saw her eyes: they were glowing..

He couldn’t tell which one, but Skye was building one of her traits without realizing it. It kind of felt like her Shaman magic, but more.. familiar. He couldn’t put his finger on it, and wouldn’t get the chance to. After she and Regis talked a moment, Skye started heading inside Zazzy’s Place. She wasn’t finished healing Zazzy yet, but she was out of danger for the moment. Finding the source of the toxins was also imperative to making sure she wouldn’t have any lasting after effects.

Scooping up one of the loaf-sized food pellets, Skye realized that the poison was baked in, not added. Massive amounts of belladonna were inside the pellets, but not the center. Indicating it hadn’t been added in with the actual ingredients. The only time it could’ve been added was right before the baking process. Otherwise, it would’ve made the pellets inedible to Zazzy. Defeating the purpose of poisoning her to begin with.

Looking at the pellets, Skye’s fury began to bubble up again. Being angry was understandable, but her hair-trigger was not. Skye had no delusions about herself. She knew that her go-to emotion was anger when dealing with difficult situations, but this was different. The madder she got, the clearer she could think. This was not like that at all.

Her judgement kept clouding, and her nerves felt on edge. Skye didn’t like how jittery she felt, and didn’t understand why she was so worked up. Looking over at her husband, she wondered what he was feeling as he stroked the top of Zazzy’s head..

Tidas couldn’t understand why his heart ached so badly. Seeing Zazzy in pain was almost as bad as seeing Skye that way. He cared for Zazzy, but nothing near what he felt for Skye. The intensity of his feelings was something he knew his wife felt for Zazzy, not himself..

As Tidas pet the baby dragon, her quiet little trills of discomfort tore at his heart. He felt an urge to ask Skye to heal her again, but didn’t have to. She was already walking over with a food pellet still in her hand. Handing it off to Tidas, Skye began to use her Shaman trait. She’d never stopped building it as she examined the food. In case Zazzy suddenly crashed.

Now that she knew exactly what she was dealing with, Skye healed the baby dragon. While doing so, she spoke in a curt, hard tone; “It was belladonna.. The bastards were trying to kill her, not just make her sick..”

“How do you know?” Tidas inquired with concern in his tone.

“The amount in one pellet would’ve made her sick. More than five and she would’ve become deathly ill.. Anyone involved with the production of Zazzy’s food knows she eats about thirty a day right now. Which means whomever was bought off knew that they were gonna kill her..”

“How do you know that? What if they were simply handed the poison like a regular ingredient, and mixed it in without knowing?” Regis asked with a monotone.

Skye looked up at him with restrained irritation; “Because I taught everyone involved the recipe me self; I created it. No one that I didn’t directly teach is allowed to handle her food. They know the process by heart. From what ingredients are used, to how the pellets should look at each stage. Someone that I trained is responsible for this, and Ima gonna find out who..”

Skye stood up and began to walk off towards the horses when Tidas stopped her; “I understand how upset you are, I am too. But if we go about this the wrong way, we’ll not only chase off the one who poisoned Zazzy, but the person who wanted her dead to begin with.”

“Please, please wait, alright?” Tidas turned away from Skye to face his guard; “Regis! I want Zazzy’s food replaced before nightfall. Tell Zas what happened, and that he needs to post watchmen near the R&D Department, and the other road leading to the farm next door. I also want someone to question the owner and workers. To see if they’ve noticed anyone suspicious skulking around since construction finished. I also want the Kennel Master to send over someone to keep an eye on Zazzy for whenever we’re away.”

“Aye, my prince. I’ll handle it right away,” Regis replied before taking off in a blur.

“...So he’s a Speed Tank, huh?” Skye stated more than asked, drawing her husband’s attention back.

“Aye. He’s only been in the RMC a couple years longer than me. He was getting out of training right as mine was starting at eleven. He’s a good man, albeit a bit stiff. Unless he’s on a battlefield. But most people act completely different when fighting for their lives,” Tidas wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders as he’d spoken.

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Skye had no reply for her husband because she hadn’t seen war yet. Her skirmish with the Nomads and assassin were nothing, comparatively speaking. She understood that war was watching your enemy and comrades die around you alike. She could never imagine what Tidas had seen, but glimpsed the depths of his emotions and was overwhelmed..

When Marco had tried to slip a piece of his amulet onto Skye via Tidas and failed, she had seen the worst of him. Deep down, there was a part of her husband that obsessed over her, and hated everyone else. His love would seem overbearing to some, but that didn’t bother Skye because she was just as possessive of him.. What bothered her was his hatred.

Tidas had seen humanity’s ugliest sides, and was changed by it.. How prone we are to to greed, how easily we turn on each other, and turn off our morality when it’s to our personal benefit.. And what he hated most was the pathetic excuse of a system he was a part of..

Tidas knew of his darkness, and didn’t deny it. Instead, he’d used it as his fuel to create a better world. His love for Skye had pushed him through his most hellish moments, and sinister thoughts.. Moments like when he’d find underground fighting rings, or forced prostitution dens.. The temptation to outright kill the ringleaders was almost unbearable. The sickening level of depravity he’d seen in his nearly seven years since he started his private war almost turned him apathetic to the world’s problems.

It would’ve been so much easier just to give give up on it all.. But Skye would never do it. No matter what pain was brought on her, she still believed that most people wanted to be decent. That the basic nature of humans and Fae alike was to be kind to each other.

She wasn’t like Tidas, who had to constantly convince or remind himself of it. Skye just.. knew it. Given the chance; most people wanted to be redeemed. And those that didn’t brought the karmic repercussions down upon themselves..

Tidas could feel a faint darkness within Skye as well, but it was nearly blocked out by her light. During their coupling, he’d connected to her in a way that he couldn’t put into words. They didn’t just share themselves with each other, their souls mingled; taking a small piece, and leaving a piece of themselves with the other. They were irrevocably linked: bound to each other.

‘Wasn’t there a part in the legend about a bond of some kind?’ The thoughts ricocheted inside his head as they waited for Regis to return. He didn’t take long, but the food was going to. Watchmen were being assigned by Zas as they spoke, and the Kennel Master was sending over his second oldest son. A young man by the name of Larry who was already familiar and fond of Zazzy.

As they waited, the wind whipped about. Blowing the scent of whatever was cooking inside their cottage towards them. Skye sniffed at the air right as both Tidas and her stomach rumbled in synchronicity. They checked Zazzy one more time and found her sleeping until her food arrived. Seeing a small opportunity; they notified Regis, and heading into their cottage to continue their date..